"I have always believed," he said with the accumulated knowledge of a five-year-old, and all the wisdom of the ages, "that the whole world was in God's heart."
-from today's devotion in "Finding Calm in the Chaos" by Kathleen Bostrom
In this entry, Kathleen describes a children's sermon in which the pastor asks the kids, "Where is God?" What a profound answer from a person of any age, huh? It really fits in with my J-term class, too; we've spent a lot of time talking about exactly where God is at in this universe.
In an interview I heard yesterday, a woman suggested waking up every morning and setting an intention for the day. I really intended on doing that but then lack of sleep and a mind that gets full too quickly forgot. So I will do this now at 7:45am. My intention for today is: to live in a way that honors every thing and every person I encounter as if it was part of the heart of God. I did a bad job of this yesterday; but one of life's great gifts is that every day is a new opportunity to try out what we stunk at the previous day.
In an interview I heard yesterday, a woman suggested waking up every morning and setting an intention for the day. I really intended on doing that but then lack of sleep and a mind that gets full too quickly forgot. So I will do this now at 7:45am. My intention for today is: to live in a way that honors every thing and every person I encounter as if it was part of the heart of God. I did a bad job of this yesterday; but one of life's great gifts is that every day is a new opportunity to try out what we stunk at the previous day.
Also, I heard this wisdom yesterday: Give yourself space between the stimulus and the reaction. Great words. That is some truth that I really need to implement. Although I like to think of myself as a mellow and tranquil person, I am very aware that I overreact. Maybe if I think of things in terms of a stimulus and a reaction, that will help. I do hear we have much more control over our emotions than we usually believe. I am especially sensitive to feelings of loss. I hate to cut ties, I hate when things end (movies, television series, books, relationships), and I hate transition. But maybe it would be helpful to acknowledge that all these things are realities of life, and if I want to be a good pastor, I need to learn to deal with change/loss/transition in life-affirming ways. I'm finding that the motivation to become a good pastor is helping me work through/overcome just about everything.
Have a great Friday. Thanks for reading and reflecting with me.
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